System and method for performing precision guided air to ground package delivery

ABSTRACT

Described is a method of delivery for cargo or goods from an aerial vehicle (mothership) to a designated ground delivery location via the use of a direct air shipping (DASH) package. For example an aerial vehicle may be an airplane or helicopter that remains at altitude with a DASH packaged stowed for deployment. As the mothership travels in the vicinity of the designated location the DASH package flight control computer (flight controller) calculates a preferred travel trajectory based upon the aerodynamic properties of the package and location relative to the designated delivery location such as a small delivery pad located on a patio of a home. When the mothership transits through a calculated release point the DASH package disengages the mothership. As the DASH package descends it may increase accuracy relative to the designated delivery location by altering aerodynamic properties to maintain the preferred travel trajectory and decreasing landing zone size requirements and increasing precision of delivery. To reduce the impact force at landing the designated delivery location and/or the DASH package may contain a net, airbag, parachute or similar device to provide a suitably soft landing suitable for commercial home delivery.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application from U.S. applicationSer. No. 15/782,853 filed on Oct. 13, 2017 which issued as U.S. Pat. No.10,671,960 on Jun. 2, 2020.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates generally to the air delivery of goodsfrom an airplane or helicopter, or other aerial vehicle, to a groundlocation by means of an autonomously guided package. Specifically thepresent invention relates to a system and method for a guided aerialdelivery package to provide high accuracy package deliveries regardlessof external atmospheric or ground conditions. Depending on the fragilityof the cargo, the autonomously guided package may be directed to land onpre-placed landing gear.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Airdrop systems have been use for many decades to perform delivery fromairplanes. In its simplest form a package is dropped from a movingairplane such that forward momentum carries the package towards theintended ground location. This simple solution has long been used toprovide humanitarian aid in areas plagued by famine, natural disastersor war.

Alternatively some slightly more advanced systems make use ofparachutes, airfoils, or gliders or the like. Those devices reducelanding impact forces, and allow for “soft landings” in order to protectthe dropped cargo. Still more recent configurations include electronicflight controllers that may be used to calculate or predict the flightpath of a parachute or glider in order to increase precision of theflight path or to provide feedback and control of flight surfaces tosteer the package towards the designated landing location.

Air drops have need to deliver goods as close as possible to the enduser in order to reduce secondary transit modes such as truck or handdelivery, and may take place in congested locations where buildings,persons or vehicles may be present in the vicinity of air dropoperations. Therefore it is critical that air dropped packages landwithin a designed landing sites and do not accidentally hit uninvolvedstructures or persons. Landing zones must therefore be large enough toaccount for the inherent inaccuracy of parachute or glider approaches,and clear of tall obstructions on approach path.

Conventional Air drop systems today attempt to address the need fordelivery accuracy through the use of parachute or parafoil structureswith an underslung load commonly consisting of a pallet, box, or bag.

The main drawback with parachute structures and other comparablestructures used in the art today is that such devices are not able toprovide sufficient guidance or control in all weather conditions such ashigh wind. Accurate landings cannot be guaranteed in such adverseconditions. In addition to landing inaccuracy, parachute and comparablestructures are fragile and can be damaged in adverse conditions. Forexample, a controllable parachute with a low forward airspeed is alsosubject to collapse or loss of lift from a tailwind.

Another drawback to existing systems in the art is that parachute orcomparable systems require large surface area chutes relative to thepackage size. The result is that the parachute or similar device maybecome entangled in trees, power lines, light poles or other groundobstructions near the landing location.

Yet another drawback is that parachutes are designed for a specific wingloading range and thus may only operate in a narrow performance windowfor minimum and maximum payload capacity. This limitation requires theuse of multiple parachute sizes or ballast weights in order to cover abroad range of package weights.

In addition, parachute performance characteristics also require the useof secondary systems or multi parachute deployments in order to operateat the cruising speed and altitudes common to commercial cargo aircraft.The reason being that parachutes are designed for a target wing loadingand cannot adapt to a wide range of load capacities while maintainingacceptable performance. These problems with parachute and parafoilperformance increase the weight of the deployed system overall, andmoreover decrease accuracy. The result is also increased cost andcomplexity. Moreover, the inherent inaccuracy and inability forcontrolled parachute systems to reliably land in all weather conditionsrequires the use of large landing zones generally relegated to fields ofseveral acres or larger and to take place away from structures, orground personnel that may be inadvertently struck by landing parachutesor packages.

Alternatively, powered or unpowered gliders may also be used to delivercargo airdropped from airplanes. Similar to parafoils, gliders employaerodynamic lift in order to reduce vertical descent rate and controlsurfaces to increase precision of landing. However, gliders require alarge wingspan in order to maintain a suitable glide ratio generallygreater than 10:1, and also require strong materials in order tomaintain structural rigidity at launch speeds typical of cargo aircraft.

Conventional airdrop systems moreover have the drawback that they arenot suitable for performing routine commercial delivery in developed orurban regions in which a heightened need for precision landing accuracyand flight during adverse weather conditions may exist. In addition,conventional airdrop systems are expensive, inaccurate and complex tointegrate into traditional air cargo operations and thus are primarilyused to support military operations, or relegated for special use casesaway from ground activity. The present invention solves these and otherproblems.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The device and system of the present invention provide an efficient andaccurate way to accomplish air to ground shipments in a variety ofsettings including urban areas. The present invention can be accuratelydeployed in adverse or extreme weather systems. In addition, the presentinvention is capable of safely accommodating fragile cargo. For thosereasons and others discussed herein, the device of the present inventionsubstantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs know inthe prior art. The improvements disclosed in the present invention allowfor a low cost apparatus that provides accurate airdrops suitable forall commercial flight conditions and delivery to all locations.

The deficiencies of the prior art as described previously aresubstantially overcome by the use of a guided direct air-shippingpackage in conjunction with a flight controller. According to one aspectof the present invention, a direct air shipping system consists of adirect air-shipping package that encases a payload to provide a vehicleof known aerodynamic properties. Specifically the aerodynamic shape isdesigned to be high drag relative to traditional flight vehicles suchthat forward velocity and terminal velocity are reduced. The intentionof the aerodynamic shape is to diminish all foreword airspeed such thatthe package falls vertically, similar to the trajectory a shuttlecockmight take.

The aerodynamic properties of the direct air-shipping package of thepresent invention may be numerically modeled in a manner thatpredictively estimates the resulting ground location based uponconditions at time of release from the aerial vehicle or “mother ship.”

According to another aspect of the invention, the package that isdeployed from the mother ship (the direct air-shipping package, or“DASH” package), may contain fins, wings or deflectable surfaces toalter flight path sufficient to maintain heading towards the designatedground location. Such surfaces may be folded or stowed before or duringlaunch to increase the packing efficiency of the DASH packages in themothership.

According to another aspect of the invention a flight controllerdetermines position of the DASH package system using GPS signals andother sensors to determine location, orientation and velocity relativeto the designated ground location.

According to another aspect of the invention the flight controllerexecutes the predictive model to calculate in real time an acceptablerelease window such that the natural trajectory will coincide with thetarget ground location.

According to another aspect of the invention, after launch, the flightcontroller continuously monitors the flight path of the DASH packagebased upon the numerical model. The flight controller may deflectaerodynamic control surfaces such as fins to further reduce error andmaintain a trajectory of the DASH package towards the target groundlocation.

According to another aspect of the invention, the flight controllerincludes a transceiver, such as a radio modem or cellular modem. Duringflight, the transceiver is used to transmit position, altitude,orientation or other information regarding the DASH package to a baselocation. The base location may be located on the ground, in thedeploying mothership, or in another location. The information from theflight controller may be used to monitor operation of the system inreal-time. Additionally, the transceiver may receive information fromthe base location. Such information may include manual override controlof the system or change in target coordinates, or external sensorinformation such as atmospheric conditions like ground wind speed.

According to another aspect of the invention, a designated landinglocation may contain a net, airbag, or low density foam matting orsimilar system to slow the decent of the DASH package and enable softlandings of the stowed cargo. The designated landing location may alsoinclude, lighting, navigation beacons, anemometers or other devices toaid in the delivery and navigation of the DASH package.

According to another aspect of the invention, the nose of the DASHpackage may be constructed of material configured into an energyabsorbing crushable impact zone. This zone may be used to further reducelanding force experienced by the cargo and may provide a suitable softimpact for commercially shipped goods. To further cushion the landing,the nose of the DASH package may also include an inflatable airbag. Thatairbag could be compact when not in use, and would inflate upon impactin order to protect fragile cargo on landing.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 depicts one embodiment of a mother ship and a DASH package beingdeployed form that mother ship.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart showing the sequence of deployment operations.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram depicting flight controller functions.

FIG. 4 depicts the DASH device and its cargo.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

The device of the present invention will now be described with referenceto the figures. As disclosed herein, the DASH package system enables theunique capability of delivering goods or cargo to a designated landingzone with several advantages over current airdrop platforms. The presentinvention possesses numerous advantages over current airdrop systems.

As shown in FIG. 1, the system and method of the present inventionpossesses the unique capability of delivering cargo to a designatedlanding zone. In the present invention a mother ship (1) flies in thevicinity of a designated landing zone (2). Mother ship 1 may preferablybe a fixed winged manned aircraft. In one embodiment, mother ship (1)may be an airplane. In that embodiment, the airplane may be a cargoplane, a military plane, a personal jet, or other plane. In otherembodiments mother ship (1) may be other types of flying vehiclesincluding helicopters or any other manned aerial apparatus. In analternate embodiment, the DASH package may be launched from autonomousunmanned aerial vehicles. For example in that embodiment, a large dronecould be employed as mother ship (1).

Designated landing site (2) may be any designated area intended to theland DASH vehicles. The landing site may consist of any area cleared ofoverhead obstructions such that a clear path from the mother ship to thelanding site may be traced. In the preferred embodiment, the landingsite may contain a net, foam pit, airbag or similar device to slow theDASH package at deceleration rate, which does not harm the shipped goodsor cargo. Ground sensors such as anemometers, GPS base stations, orsimilar may be used to update the flight controller on conditions in thevicinity of the landing site. This data may be communicated to themother ship or Flight controller by means of two-way radio modem,cellular tower, Wi-Fi or similar wireless communication technology.Navigation lights, markings or symbols may also be used to visuallydesignate the landing site or create an improvised landing site. As theDASH vehicle may have high precision to a specific landing point thedesignated ground location may be much smaller than traditionalhelipads, runways or other landing locations further enabling moreoptions on suitable landing locations and lower cost in the constructionand maintenance of landing zones.

FIG. 1 depicts the DASH package (3) being deployed from mother ship (1).As shown, DASH package (3) maintains a preferred flight trajectory (4)toward the landing zone (2). DASH package 3 maintains flight trajectory(4) by deflecting control surfaces (5). Mother ship (1) includes two-waycommunication and sensors on a sensor pod (6). The communication devicesand sensors on sensor pod 6 may preferably include GPS tracking devicesand cameras. Other tracking and communications devices known in the artmay alternatively be used.

In one embodiment, mother ship (1) may be a Cessna 206, or other cargoaircraft. Mother ship (1) stows the package during flight operations andtravels toward the general vicinity of the designated ground location.The ground location may be programmed into a flight controller onboardmother ship (1). That programming may be achieved by uploading GPScoordinates in advance of the flight. Alternatively the programming maybe achieved by identifying a ground location during flight and usingLidar, Cameras, GPS, triangulation or other sensors to determine preciseground location. Navigation towards the ground location may be aided bythe flight controller acting as a secondary navigation aid by means oftablet computer or similar display device that may provide directionalguidance toward the designated ground location.

Sensor pod (6) may preferably contain a plurality of sensors such asGPS, infrared and/or visual cameras, altimeters, air speed sensors, andlaser range finders. Other sensors and aids known in the art mayalternatively be used. The devices in sensor pod (6) aid the flightcontroller in determining location, velocity and atmospheric conditionsin relation to the desired ground location. In an alternate embodiment,a base station at the landing site may provide additional telemetry bymeans of a two-way radio modem or similar communication standard. Thesensors are discussed further in connection with FIG. 3.

The flight controller located in mother ship (1) uses the telemetry andsensor information in order to calculate a release trajectory that willresult in DASH package (3) landing at the designated landing site (2)with minimal to no external energy or need to modify this naturaltrajectory. This preferred trajectory and release window may optionallybe displayed on the secondary navigation aid (laptop or tablet screen)as a three dimensional volume, 2D or 3D approach for the pilot to followin order to reach their designated ground location.

Once the release window has been transited the flight controller signalsto a release actuator to drop or launch DASH package (3) on thepreferred trajectory beginning the flight phase. In an alternativeembodiment, the DASH package may be manually released from mother ship(1). In that embodiment, an operator on board mother ship (1) may open ahatch or other portal. A computing display such as a tablet or othercomputing device would display a countdown to release, at which time theoperator would deploy the package. After release DASH package (3) mayfold, inflate, or deploy aerodynamic features such as tail fins, wingsor nose section. The purpose of this is to increase packing factor andease of launch in the as-stowed configuration and to protect controlsurfaces from harsh conditions during the launch phase. Increasingpacking factor allows a larger number of DASH vehicles to be stowedwithin a given cargo aircraft volume allowing for increased operationalefficiency and lower cost per package compared to fixed wing gliders,multi rotors or parachute based systems.

Reference will now be made to FIG. 2. FIG. 2, depicts a block diagram offlight operations. As shown in block 10, prior to launch from mothership (1) ground GPS coordinates are placed into the flight controllermemory by computer interface. The ground coordinates may be placed intothe flight controller memory prior to or during flight.

As shown in block 12, mother ship (1) is piloted towards the location ofthe designated landing site (2). The flight controller may optionallyoutput secondary navigation information to a computer interface such asa monitor to aid in navigation to the designated landing site. As shownin block 14, the flight controller continuously calculates a preferredtrajectory based upon sensor inputs such as GPS, altimeters, andaccelerometers in order to calculate a release window consisting of abounded volume of space in which the as-released flight trajectory willintercept the designated landing zone. Other equipment known in the artmay alternatively be employed.

Block 16 shows that when the release window is reached, the flightcontroller actuates a release servo or similar mechanism to detach DASHpackage (3) from mother ship (1). As shown in Block 20, Dash package (3)begins the flight phase of the operation in which the DASH vehicle istraveling on a ballistic trajectory towards the ground. DASH package (3)then begins the natural trajectory phase of flight in which the forwardmomentum and aerodynamic properties impart a trajectory. Controlsurfaces or the vehicle may be optionally maintained in a stowedconfiguration until forward air speed or other triggers are met.

As shown in Block 22, in the preferred embodiment DASH package (3) maydeploy, wings, fins or other similar structures in order to transit froman aerodynamic or volumetrically efficient configuration to themaneuverable flight form. The deployment may be trigger by the flightcontroller due to preset altitude limits, or sensor inputs such as airspeed or attitude.

As shown in Block 30, the navigation sensors continuously calculateerror from the preferred trajectory based upon input data from sensors(32). The input data is interpreted by the flight controller navigationalgorithm (34). That algorithm determines the deflection of controlsurfaces to continually reduce error in the positioning of DASH package(3). The flight controller may then output commands to actuators 36 inorder to move control surfaces such as fins or wings 38. Errorcalculation and correction is then continuously performed untilterminated by the flight controller or manual override.

In one embodiment, the operator may manually override navigation andactuate control surfaces by communication via radio modem or otherwireless communication devices. Control override may consist of alteringthe preferred trajectory or GPS coordinates of the designated landingsite or by manually manipulating control surfaces.

As shown in Block 42, prior to the time at which DASH package (3)impacts the landing area, landing triggers may be set by crossing aaltitude threshold, minimum distance trigger, or similar sensor inputs.The landing trigger may be optionally used to perform deployment of adrogue chute, stowage of wings or control surfaces or orientation of thevehicle into a preferred landing configuration. DASH package (3) thenlands at the designated landing site as shown in Block 46, and ceasesflight operations.

Reference is now made to FIG. 3, which depicts the flight controllerfunctions. As shown in FIG. 3, the DASH vehicle flight control andtelemetry system may preferably be a flight control computer (FCC)consisting of components necessary to provide location, guidance andcontrol of surfaces. That computer allows for an accurate determinationof the current location of the mother ship relative to the designatedlanding location. It further deflects control surfaces to maintainprecision on a flight path towards the designated landing location.

A suite of sensors (50) such as GPS (52), Magnetometer (54), 3-axisAccelerometers (56), barometer (58) and Video Cameras (60) gatherinformation sufficient to provide telemetry and information to determinethe location, orientation, heading and flight conditions of the DASHpackage. The sensors may be self-correcting and error rejecting suchthat the particular sensor providing the highest fidelity is weightedfor use within the Flight Controller (70) Navigation algorithm. The FCC(70) processes the measured flight information then commands a suite ofactuators (80) to deflect the corresponding servos (82-88) to maintainor modify the flight path. Additional servos may optionally be used toperform other tasks throughout the flight phase such as control surfacedeployment (90) or backup parachute or landing device deployment (92).

A suite of communication hardware (100) maybe used to transmit data fromthe mother ship or from a ground operator to obtain the status or impartcommands after the DASH vehicle launch. A video transmitter (102) maybeused to deliver video data from the camera sensor (60) and may betransmitted via a radio modem, analog radio or similar (104). Telemetrydata (106) from any of the sensor suites may also be optionallytransmitted via the radio modem. Servo Control data may optionallytransmitted or received via the radio control transceiver (108). Suchdata may be used to send override commands or manually command the DASHvehicle servos.

Reference is now made to FIG. 4, which is a depiction of one embodimentof a DASH vehicle (3). In this preferred embodiment, the DASH vehicleincludes a vehicle body (120), a tail kit section (130) and a shippingbox (140).

The vehicle body (120) may be made out of Styrofoam, plastic or similarmaterial that can be fabricated at low cost. The vehicle body isdesigned as a rectangular prism to maintain a high packing efficiency oftraditional shipping boxes (140). A nose section (122) may be preferablymade out of a material such as Styrofoam that compresses upon impactwith the ground to act as a crumple zone, and aiding in the suitablysoft landing for the shipping box (140) inside. In one embodiment, thenose section may contain an inflatable airbag, which is deployed uponlanding in order to further protect the cargo. Wings (124) may beoptionally installed or deployed to provide increased lift or modify theaerodynamic performance based upon package weight.

The DASH package is designed such that the aerodynamic properties areknown enabling calculation of the trajectory during flying. Compared toa Sail plane or para-wing, in the preferred embodiment the DASH packagehas a very low lift to drag ratio such that it cannot provide adequatelift to soar long distances or maintain a straight and level flightpath. In the preferred embodiment the flight path is straight down,similar to a skydiver, accomplished by using the high drag body andcontrol surfaces to remove all forward airspeed and instead dropvertically at terminal velocity. The purpose of the straight downtrajectory is to enable landing in areas with nearby ground obstructionslike trees, tall buildings, vehicles or persons, and also to reduce theeffects of vertical error in GPS sensors. In the straight downtrajectory a landing is possible as long as the landing site has anunobstructed view of the sky. This is in contrast to sailplanes orparachutes that may have in excess of a 10:1 glide ratio and require aclear approach path. The secondary benefit is that there is no need toaccurately measure height above ground level. GPS is known to beinaccurate in the Z-axis, a gliding approach path requires a longerlanding site or additional sensors to account for inaccuracies in theheight above ground level. As the DASH package is coming straight downguidance only needs to be provided continually in the X and Y axisregardless of altitude above target. This vastly simplifies thenavigation requirements and complexity of the control process andincreases repeatability of landing operations, as no complex flarecontrol flaps or similar device are needed during a touchdown phase.

Control surfaces (132), depicted as grid fins in this embodiment, may bedeflected to modify the attitude of the DASH package and thus alter theflight path. The grid density, pattern and arrangement may be modifiedto increase drag into an optimal range. In conjunction the aerodynamicdrag of the vehicle body (120) and grid fins may be used to maintain aspecific terminal velocity range to reduce vertical descent rate duringthe flight phase. The FCC is mounted in the tail kit (130) of the DASHvehicle. In this configuration the vehicle body may be made low cost anddisposable while the tail kit may be optionally recovered to reduce thecost of repeat package shipments. This allows for the optional recoveryand reuse of the tail kit and disposal or recycling of the DASH packagebody (120).

The package (140) may consist of a standard commercial cardboardshipping box typical of commercial deliveries. The package is insertedinto the dash vehicle. The location of the package may be shifted alongthe length of the vehicle or rotated to improve the location of theCenter of gravity relative to the aerodynamic center of lift and thusincrease static contrability and flight characteristics.

All examples herein are to be construed as being without limitation tosuch specifically recited examples and conditions. Moreover, allstatements herein reciting principles, aspects, and embodiments of theinvention, as well as specific examples thereof, are intended toencompass both structural and functional equivalents hereof.Additionally, it is intended that such equivalents include bothcurrently known equivalents as well as equivalents developed in thefuture, i.e., any elements developed that perform the same function,regardless of structure.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device that delivers a payload to a groundlocation from an aerial vehicle, including: a vehicle configured toenclose a payload; a tail kit section releasably coupled to the vehicleand configured to be disposed on an upwardly oriented portion of thevehicle when the vehicle is in a flight path between the aerial vehicleand the ground location, wherein the tail kit section is configured tobe recovered from the vehicle and releaseably coupled to a secondvehicle; a flight controller disposed in the tail kit section andconfigured to: determine flight path adjustment parameters configured toactuate control surfaces on the device and to maintain the vehicle inthe flight path to a designated landing site on the ground location, andgenerate a trigger; a nose section coupled to the vehicle and configuredto be disposed on a downwardly oriented portion of the vehicle when thevehicle and the nose section are in the flight path between the aerialvehicle and the ground location, and a parachute attached to the deviceand configured to be deployed by the trigger generated by the flightcontroller.
 2. The system of claim 1 wherein the control surfaces areconfigured to alter the flight path of the vehicle.
 3. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the vehicle includes location sensors configured toprovide location information for communication with the aerial vehicle.4. The system of claim 1 wherein the vehicle includes aerodynamicfeatures wherein: the aerodynamic features are configured to be in aretracted position when the vehicle is not in flight; and theaerodynamic features are configured to be in a deployed position uponlaunch from the aerial vehicle.
 5. The system of claim 1 wherein theflight controller is programmed with a location of the designatedlanding site.
 6. The system of claim 1 wherein the flight controller isconfigured to provide information for communication with one or moresensors in the aerial vehicle.
 7. The system of claim 1 wherein thevehicle is configured to land at the designated landing site, and thedesignated landing site includes a material configured into an energyabsorbing crushable impact zone.
 8. The system of claim 1 wherein thevehicle includes an inflatable airbag.
 9. The system of claim 1 whereinthe vehicle is configured to be released via an automatic trigger whenthe aerial vehicle reaches a pre-determined spot.
 10. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the vehicle is configured to be released manually whenthe aerial vehicle reaches a pre-determined spot.
 11. The system ofclaim 1 wherein the vehicle is configured to have a vertical trajectoryfrom a time of release to a time of landing.
 12. The system of claim 1wherein: the vehicle is configured to be discarded after a landing ofthe vehicle; and the tail kit section is configured to be recoverableafter the landing of the vehicle.
 13. A method for delivering a payloadfrom an aerial vehicle to a ground location, the method comprising:storing a vehicle containing a payload to be delivered in the aerialvehicle, the vehicle having a tail kit section configured to be on topduring a flight path of the vehicle from the aerial vehicle to theground location, wherein the tail kit section is configured to berecovered from the vehicle and releaseably coupled to a second vehicle,a flight controller mounted in the tail kit section, and a nose sectioncoupled to the vehicle; programming a designated landing location into amemory onboard the aerial vehicle; releasing the vehicle from the aerialvehicle; deploying aerodynamic features on the vehicle; controlling adirection of the vehicle while in flight; and deploying a parachutebased on a trigger at the flight controller, wherein the trigger isissued by the flight controller based on a received sensor value;wherein the nose section is configured to be: underneath the vehicleduring the flight path of the vehicle from the aerial vehicle to theground location; and compressed upon a landing of the vehicle.
 14. Themethod of claim 13 wherein the vehicle follows an essentially verticaltrajectory from launch to the ground location.
 15. The method of claim13 wherein the designated landing location includes a materialconfigured into an energy absorbing crushable impact zone.
 16. Themethod of claim 13 wherein the vehicle is cushioned by an airbag onlanding.
 17. The method of claim 13 further comprising establishingcommunications between the aerial vehicle and the vehicle after thevehicle has been launched from the aerial vehicle.
 18. The method ofclaim 13, wherein the flight path of the vehicle resembles a flight pathof a shuttlecock.
 19. The method of claim 13, wherein the releasingcomprises releasing the vehicle from the aerial vehicle without regardfor a height of the aerial vehicle above the ground location.